


"I'm fine. I'm fine."

by FearfulKitten



Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [8]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Batboys, Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily Dynamics (DCU), Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Caring Batfamily (DCU), Damian Wayne is a good brother, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Domestic Batfamily (DCU), Fluff, Gen, Jason Todd is a good brother, Nightmares, Protective Batfamily (DCU), Tim Drake is a Good Brother, batboys being good bros, batbros, i guess, i hadnt read batman and the signal when i wrote this, i promisse i love him, im so sorry for not including duke, no beta we die like robins, there are more works with him coming i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26037658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FearfulKitten/pseuds/FearfulKitten
Summary: Dick has a nightmare that has him screaming in the middle of the night, and really struggles to accept the help of his younger brothers. His younger brothers don't really give a shit about that particular struggle of his, and stay with him even when he tells them to leave.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852759
Comments: 18
Kudos: 382





	"I'm fine. I'm fine."

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I had this sitting in my file for a long time actually. I don't know why it took me so long to post it, tbh, but that's why I didn't include Duke, I still wasn't all that comfortable writing him a couple of months ago. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Tim heard a noise coming from his brother’s room as he walked back from the kitchen. At first he thought it was one of those noises you simply ignore, but something made him stop dead on his tracks and listen. Another weird grunt, bed creaks, and heavy breathing. Okay, that did sound too much like a noise you’d ignore. But then it got a bit louder, and he heard a small ‘no’ being mumbled. He thought about what to do, until he heard Dick screaming.

After the noise ceased, he knocked on the door and opened it slightly.

“Dick? Are you okay?”

He was sitting up on his bed, accelerated breaths and a thin layer of sweat covered his body.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” He answered, running a hand down his face “Can you... Can you hit the lights for me?”

“Sure.” Tim clicked on the lightswich, making the room brighter.

“Thank you. I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“No problem. Also, you didn’t wake me up, I was coming back from the kitchen and heard you.” He walked in the room “Nightmares?”

“Yeah.” Dick hugged his knees. Tim sat down on the bed “It’s okay, You don’t have to stay here. I’m fine.”

Tim blinked.

“You can’t be serious.” He said.

“I’m a grown man, I can handle this type of shit.” Dick shot back, still curled in on himself. He knew his posture made the previous statement sound extremely unconvincing, but he couldn’t help it.

“Yeah, but you don’t have to do it alone. C’mon man, Jason’s like, only two years younger than you, and you never let him sleep alone after a nightmare. Let me help.”

“Grayson,” Damian asked from the door, holding his pillow “Did you have a nightmare?”

“Am I a circus show now?” Dick asked, a little annoyed.

“I mean, you _are_ a circus freak.” Jason showed up, voice still raspy and face smushed by the pillow “C’mon devilspaw, walk in, I wanna sit.”

“Don’t call me that, Todd.” Damian shot back but complied anyways, too sleepy to defend his honor, following his older brothers and sitting on the bed “Do you need us to get you some water?” He asked, eyes half closed.

“No, I’m fine.” He answered “You don’t have to stay here guys.”

“Stop being an idiot Dickie, that doesn’t suit you.” Jason laid down “’Sides, this bed is huge. It can definetly fit us all comfortably.”

“I’m gonna go get you some water.” Tim annouced, standing up.

“Wanna talk about it?” Jason asked, hands under his head.

“Not really.” Dick answered.

“Okay then.”

“Your room is filthy, Grayson.” Damian said, looking at the pile of clothes on top of a chair.

“Shut up. Aren’t you supposed to be nice to me right now?”

“I think this is as nice as he gets.” Jason answered, snickering. Damian didn’t say anything as he hit his brother’s face with a pillow.

“Uhm, hi.” Bruce said, standing awkwardly in the door step “I heard a scream. Is everything okay, boys?”

“Yeah.” Dick nodded. Everyone was quiet for a second before Damian sighed, slightly annoyed.

“He had a nightmare, father. We’re taking care of him now.”

“Oh.” Bruce blinked. He stepped into the room and kissed the top of Dick’s head “Are you okay son?”

“I’m getting there.” Dick smiled weakly.

“Do you want me to stay here? Or maybe... If you want to, you can sleep in my room. Like when you did back when you were about this big.” Bruce smiled as he placed an open palm next to his waist to illustrate exactly how big.

“I’m fine, B.” Dick grinned up at the sleepy man, who now caressed his hair, absent minded. Dick enjoyed the touch, but knew the only thing that lead Bruce to be so open and generous with his physical demonstrations of love was his sleep deprivation reaching such a critical level that he could barely think. A whole new level of lack of self care. Still, Dick sighed, taking in the last contact he could before it ended, and said “You should go to bed. I can tell you haven’t rested properly in a while.”

“Will you be okay?”

“Aham.”

“Then I’ll go. Good Night boys.”

“’Night dad.” Jason, Dick and Tim answered.

“Good night father” Damian answered.

Tim rolled his eyes at the boy and handed Dick the water glass he had taken. His brother swallowed it down in no time. Jason scratched his back gently, making him more relaxed, and Tim played with his hair for a while. Damian rested his cheek on Dick’s shoulder, hugging his arm.

“Thanks guys.” He said.

“No worries.” Jason answered for the three of them “Can we turn off the lights now?”

“Are you... Planning on staying here?”

“-tt-. Obviously.” Damian rolled his eyes “You never leave any of us alone after a nightmare, do you think we’d abandon you now?”

“Guys, you don’t have to...”

“But we want to.” Tim cut him off “Would it kill you to let us help? Even a little bit?”

“It’s not that. I just... I feel like I’m putting a burden on your shoulders now.”

“C’mon Dickie, you’re no burden.” Jason said caringly.

“Yeah. Besides,” Tim chimmed in “I’m pretty sure this isn’t even the first time you woke up in the middle of the night over a bad dream. It’s just the first night you screamed, so it’s the first time we could help.” Dick frowned a little “Don’t look at me like that, you know I’m right. You know that you can come to us for help, right?”

The man looked down, quiet.

“I... I’m the one that’s supposed to be helping you. I’m the oldest brother. _I_ should take care of _you_ , not the other way around.” He said.

“Dickie, with all due respect and full offense, what the fuck kinda backwards ass, absolute _clown_ logic is that?” Jason shot back “We’re brothers. We help each other out, no matter the ages.”

“You can lean on us, Dick.” Damian said. Tim nodded.

“Just barge into our rooms when you need to, like we do with you.”

“Yeah.” Jason spoke again “And you better start doing it more often now, jerk.”

Dick laughed a little.

“Okay, fine. I will. Just go back to scratching me though, it feels good.”

“I need to sleeeeeeeep!” Jason complained, scratching him again.

“Alright, alright, let’s sleep.” Dick laughed. Tim turned of the lights again, and they settled on the bed.

Dick slept on his back, and Jason curled up on his right side, scratching his arm. Tim settled on his left side, playing with his hair until he passed out. Damian laid on top of him, listening to his heartbeat and feeling his chest rising and falling as his brother breathed.

In the morning, they were a tangled mess of limbs and drool. Damian had, somehow, taken control of the bed, forcing the other three, much bigger boys, to smush against each other in one third of the mattress, his knees on Tim’s back. Tim was partly laying on top of the other two boys, body shaped like a ‘C’. There was a small drool puddle on Dick’s torso, and his feet were close to Jason’s arms. For some reason, the older boy held on to one of them through the night as if it was a stuffed animal. Jason’s legs were tangled with Dick’s, who had barely moved through the night, if you don’t count the several inches Damian pushed him to the right.

Alfred went up the stairs to wake the boys, but once he saw the scene, decided to call Bruce first, who may or may not have cried a little over his boys caring for each other, taking pictures he’d later fondly study and share with Clark.

(Dick was happy that his brothers cared, but not so much about the drool on his sleeping shirt.)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I hope you liked this work. If you did and maybe you want to request something, you can totally do that on tumblr, @fearfulkittenwrites. I also have a personal account, where I just go ham and reblog all that I like, @fearful-kitten01. Please keep in mind that english isn't my first language and I don't have a beta reader, so mistakes are bound to happen every now and again. Feel free to point what I missed in the comments, it can help me improve my writing and fix my already posted works! Stay healthy and safe out there, Ily <3


End file.
